Are Your Guests American or German?

Caution: this blog is not for the faint of heart.

Why? We’re talking about one of the least loved insects in America: the cockroach. There are over 70 species in North America alone (not kidding). Yet for Georgia, there are two that cause the most problems for residents: the American cockroach, also known as the “Palmetto bug,” and the German cockroach.

Basic Facts

Each of these has 3 stages in their life cycle: the egg, nymph and adult. What maybe one of the scariest facts about this blog post is the number of eggs they lay -a German cockroach has 30-48 eggs in an egg capsule and the American cockroach has 10-28. Newly hatched nymphs have no wings and must molt (shed their skin) several times before becoming winged adults.

Cockroaches are nocturnal, meaning they are most active at night. During the day they hide in dark, sheltered places. When the lights go out, the cockroaches come out.

Identifying

The American cockroach adults are between 1” – 2” long, making them the largest of the house-infesting cockroaches (aren’t we lucky?). They have a reddish brown color with a yellowish margin on the thorax and wings they aren’t afraid to use. When disturbed, they quickly run away or adults may choose to fly. The nymphs in their later stage resemble adults, but they have no wings.

German cockroaches are about ⅝” long and are most commonly found in houses (kitchens and bathrooms, to be specific) and restaurants. They have a lighter brown/tan color, oval body shape and long antennae. They eat food of any kind and are known to hitchhike on cardboard boxes (such as soft drink boxes, egg cartons, etc), sacks of potatoes or onions and even appliances and furniture. Because they have such a large egg count and reproduce so quickly, infestations of German cockroaches occur at an alarming rate.

If you’ve seen a hint of a cockroach at your residence or business, we strongly encourage you to start spraying for prevention and control. Contact your local, trusted pest control company to set up pest control plan. Summer nights are for bonfires and making s’mores, not killing roaches.